u/EvilCatboyWizard

1. Family Guy - Peter Griffin wakes up in the hospital with no arms and the doctor tries to break this news by showing him a Farewell to Arms. Peter takes this to mean that he fell in love with a nurse during World War I. The doctor even pauses to note “-there’s no way you’ve read that-“ in the middle of his clarification of what he actually meant.

⁠2. My Hero Academia - When Class 1-A is trying to pick superhero named, Kyoka Jirou suggests that resident electrokinetic (and admittedly something of an airhead) Denki Kaminari should call himself “Jamming-way”. He initially assumes this is a deep literary reference to famed American novelist Ernest Hemmingway and likes the idea. She then clarifies it’s actually because when he overuses his power he “Jams” his brain and the only thing he can say is a “Whey” noise. Ultimately he goes with “Chargebolt” instead.

(I forgot that Farewell to Arms is a Hemmingway work when I decided to make this post this I swear the fact that both are Hemmingway isn’t intentional)

1. Captain Holt - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Has two examples actually. When asked by Gina to officiate a wedding he notes that his superior used to call him “Emily Dickinson”. It’s only after Gina leaves that he turns to Terry and admits that it was actually an insult about his sexuality and not anything to do with his writing skills.

Another time, he notes that the guys at a country club refer to him as “Tenacious Ray” before promptly admitting it’s because he’s been suing them for discrimination for the last ten years.

2. Air Force Callsigns - Real life

The cooler the callsign, the higher chance it has a really embarrassing backstory. This is one of my favorite websites ever: https://www.f-16.net/callsigns.html